Straight line cut-off saw



Sept. 5, 1939.. R. H. CROUCH STRAIGHT LINE CUT-OFF SAW Filed Oct. 28, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet l anaemic r KQAM/ 7:; (Amt/L Sept. 5, 1939. R. H. cRoucH 2,171,541

STRAIGHT LINE CUT-OFF SAW Filed Oct. 28, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 P 5, 1939. R. H. CROUCH 2,171,541

STRAIGHT LINE CUT-OFF SAW Filed 001:. 28, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ga 51;? g 5 p 5, 1939. R. H. CROUCH 2,111,541

STRAIGHT LINE CUT-OFF SAW Filed Oct. 28, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 &

Patented Sept. 5, 1939 STRAIGHT LENE CUT-OFF SAW Richard H. Crouch, Pulaski, Va., assignor to Automatic Machinery Corporation, Pulaski, Va., a corporation of Virginia Application October 28, 1936, Serial No. 108,112

2 Claims. (Cl. 143-47) My invention relates to an improvement in straight line cut-off saws.

Cut-off saws are, as the name implies, commonly used for cutting off lumber at predeterrotating the hand-wheel :2, the pinion ill will be turned, and the post 6 may be raised or lowered, carrying with it the saw disk 56 and its associated mechanism which will be more fully n mined points as the lumber is fed in from the described. source of supply to the saw which cuts desired On the upper end of the post 6, I provide a lengths from. the incoming piece of lumber. In horizontally extending base it, which base is the past, various devices have been used for adapted to position the cylinder 2e in the center regulating a circular saw which is positioned thereof, and on each side thereof, to position ill to cut off a piece of lumber after the lumber the preferably square rods 22 which are held 10 stock has been properly placed with relation. to against the base it by the pillow-block bearings the saw disk. 24. These rods 22 are slidable longitudinally It is an object of my invention to provide 3, thereof through the bearing provided by the base cut-off saw which is pneumatically advanced a d the D W- OC l -"i and returned to its normal position after the A motor 26 is supp rted 1 e e ds 0f the lumber stock is placed in front of the saw disk Square rods 22, which motor is also supported and after the predetermined length of lumber by and may be moved laterally backward and has been cut from the original stock respectively, by the Piston W c -fle g the control being eflected by a four-way valve. rod extends into the cylinder 53 and is provided so A further object of my invention is to provide on the end thereof remote from the motor 26 a cut-off saw which is automatically controlled with a piston 33. in its advancing and returning operations by the The Cylinder is p de a c d t erepressure of the lumber to be out. of with the ports 32 and 3 so that when air A still further object of my invention is to propr or hy i pressure is pplie through vide a cut-off saw which may be raised or lowered p t p st 39 W e t th pos o S o '25 on its mountings so that the same mechanism in 5, Carrying With it t e oto 5 and t e may be utilized for cutting thin or thick lumber, saw disk it which is secured on the shaft of the A still further object is to provide mechanism mo r. Wh n r r hydraulic pressure is l Whereby the cut-off saw will be continually adplied through the P 315, the piston rod 23 d 30 vanced to make its out as long as, th l mb its associated parts will be advanced or moved to '30 to be cut is held against a tri b the a a it the left, as shown in Fig. 5. The control of cuts through the lumber. pressure, which is allowed to enter through either In the accompanying drawings: the port 32 or 34 is effected by a four-way valve, Fig. 1 is aperspective ie which is identified, generally, by the reference '35 Fig. 2 is a, plan Vie character 36. This four-way valve 36 is pro- Fig. 3 is an end l vati n; vided with a port 38 which is connected by a Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-section on the line Suitable pressure hose to the l t 32 0f t 4-4 of Fig, 3; cylinder 29, and a port 40 which is likewise con- Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section on the line Ilected y a Suitable hose to the P 34 0f t 40 5 '-5 of Fig 2; cylinder 2!]. The port 42 of the four-way valve 4 Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section through the is connected to a s r hose whi m y four-way alve; d come from any suitable constant source of supply Fig. '7 is a horizontal cross-section through the of pressure, Whether t be hydraulic pressure r four-Way valve. air pressure. This port 42 is a T-port and is 4.5 The heaw base 2 is at its lower end relatively Connected y a 11056 45 With the p 53 e e n 45 oblong in shape and has an upstanding pedestal One Side O the four-Way Valve 4 positioned nearer one end of the oblong, as The y V e 35 is P d n the Censhown more particularly in, Fig. 4. The pedestal ter thereof with a shaft 551 which extends there- 4 is hollow and is adapted to receive a vertically thmllgh a d p ns a truncated Gone 52 in the movable post 6, which is provided on one side tapering bore within the four-way Valve 3 s 50 thereof with a rack 8. This rack 8 is engaged shaft 5% extends through the four-way valve 36, by the pinion Ill supported on one side of the and is held in position by the lock-nuts 54 bearpedestal 4, and adapted to be turned by the handing against the spring 56. The four-way valve Wheel H which is mounted on the same shaft i4 is provided with an exhaust port 58 which, when 55 on which the pinion I0 is secured. Thus, by air pressure is used, may be merely an exhaust 55 into the open air, or it may be connected with a suitable exhaust pipe or hose if hydraulic pressure is to be used.

In the position in which the four-way valve is shown, air pressure from the hose 44 enters the port 42, passes through the hose 46 into the 'port 48, and through the channel 66 in the truncated cone 52, from whence it passes through port 38 and consequently through a suitable pressure hose to the port 32 of the cylinder 28. When the four-way valve is in this position, the channel 62 in the truncated cone 52 bridges the space between the port 46 and the exhaust port 58, so that the pressure within the cylinder between the piston and the port 34 may be forced through the connecting hose between the port 34 of the cylinder 28 and the port 43 of the four-way valve 36, and thus: is allowed to escape through the exhaust port 58.

When it is desired that the piston 38 and the piston-rod 28 be advanced (to the left in Fig. 5) the shaft 58 is turned through approximately thirty degrees in a. clockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 4) by the arm 64. When this arm 64 has been turned, the channel 60 of the truncated cone 52 will be out of communication with the port 38, and the channel 62 will be out of communication with the port and will come into registry with the port 38, it remaining in registry with the exhaust port 58. At the same time, the channel 66, which is at all times connected with the port 42, will now be in engagement with the port 40. Thus, pressure from the pressure hose 44 will'enter the port 42, pass through the channel 66, through port 40, and the port 34 of the cylinder 28, and force the piston 38 and the piston rod 28 forward or to the left as shown in Fig. 5.

To operate this four-way valve 36, I connect a rod 68 to the arm 64, which rod 68 extends through the support I0 suitably secured to the pedestal 4. A spring 12 bears against the arm 18 and is adapted to maintain the rod 68 in the position in which it is shown. On the end of the rod 68 I provide a button, which, when the rod 68 is in its normal position is slightly out of alignment with the flange 16 upstanding on the side of the feed table I8. This feed table it is conventional in form, and is provided with a plurality of rollers 8,3 over which the lumber to be cut mayreadily be rolled to the cutting position.

The operation of my cut-off saw is as follows: A piece of lumber stock A is placed upon the rollers 80 of the table I8, and is advanced by the operator until the point at which it is to be cut oif is in alignment with the saw-disk it. At this time the lumber stock is pressed against the flange 16, and, consequently, against the button 14 on the end of the rod 68. By pressing the lumber against the button 14, rod 681 and arm 64 on the valve stem are forced back and the four-way valve 36 is turned so that pressure through the pressure hose 44 passes through the port 42, the channel 66, the port 46, and the port 34 into the cylinder 20, thus forcing the piston 39, piston-rod 28, and, consequently, the motor 26, and the saw-disk It to the left (as viewed in Fig. 5). At the moment this motion is commenced, the teeth on the saw-disk 86 will hold the lumber stock A against the button 14 and the flange 16, thus causing the pressure from the source of supply to advance the sawdisk l6 until it has passed entirely through the lumber stock A.

At the moment that the final out has been made through the lumber stock A, the piece of lumber which has been out off will no longer be held against the button 14 with suflicient force to overcome the energy of the spring 12, which has been compressed during the cutting operation, and, consequently, the spring 12 will return the rod 68 and the four-way valve 36 to its normal position.

When the four-way valve 36 is returned to its normal position, the air pressure from the pressure hose will pass through the port 42, connecting hose 46, port 48, through channel 60 to the port 38, from whence it passes through the connecting hose to the port 32 and forces the piston 30 to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 5. The pressure which has been within the cylinder 20, between the piston 38 and the port 34, is allowed to pass out through the port 34, port 40, and the channel 62 out through the exhaust port 58.

The speed at which the cut-off saw operates and the saw disk I6 is made to advance and retract is controlled entirely by the amount of pressure which is supplied to the four-way valve through the pressure hose 44.

Also, the length of the stroke of the saw disk i6 is dependent only upon the width of the lumber being cut, for as long as the saw disk is cutting, it will hold the stock A against the button 14 and the four-way valve will be held in position to allow pressure to pass through the port 34 into the cylinder 28 to continually advance the saw-disk (move'it to the left as viewed in Fig. 5).

It is to be understood that when the cut-off saw is to be used, the electric motor 26 will be operating and the saw disk IE will be revolving at any desired predetermined speed.

I claim:

1. A cut-off saw including an upstanding support, a piston and a plurality of longitudinally slidable rods extending horizontally from said support, a disk saw suspended on said rods and connected to said piston, a four-way valve supported on said upstanding support, and trip means for operating said valve, said trip means including a rod extending from an arm on said valve to a point approximately adjacent the disk saw and a head on said rod in the path of the material to be sawed when said material is in position to be cut, the material being moved laterally of said rod to engage and force the head and rod from their normal position to operate the valve.

2. A cut-off saw including an upstanding pedestal, a horizontal support on said pedestal,

a plurality of longitudinally slidable rods supported by said horizontal support, a piston parallel to said rods, a disk saw supported on said rods and connected to said piston, a four-way valve mounted on said upstanding pedestal, and

a rod extending'from an arm on said Valve to a point approximately adjacent said disk saw, said rod adapted to be moved by the material to be cut and to turn the valve to advance the disk saw.

RICHARD H. CROUCH. 

